Land

Land and its soil are vital to humankind. Soil resources are a complex mixture of eroded rock, minerals, ions, partially decomposed organic material, water, air, roots, fungi, animals, and microorganisms, formed over thousands or even millions of years. Land degradation—the deterioration or loss of the productive capacity of soil—is a global challenge that affects everyone through food insecurity, higher food prices, climate change, environmental hazards, and the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services. Globally, approximately 25% of total land area is already degraded. As land becomes degraded, carbon and nitrous oxide are released into the atmosphere and contribute to climate change. Approximately 24 billion tons of fertile soil is lost each year, largely due to unsustainable agriculture practices. If this trend continues, 95% of the Earth’s land areas could become degraded by 2050. Land degradation is particularly severe in the drylands, which cover approximately 40% of the world’s land area and support two billion people, especially women and children.

Events and Articles

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17th Session of the Committee for the Review of the Implementation of the Convention (CRIC 17) to the UNCCD

CRIC 17 represented the first opportunity to assess countries’ progress in implementing the UNCCD 2018-2030 Strategic Framework. This first set of progress reports, while still lacking in detail, provided countries with a useful moment of reflection on the effort needed to ensure robust monitoring of the Convention’s five Strategic Objectives and fully comply with their reporting obligations based on the new four-year review cycle.
Event 28 January 2019 - 30 January 2019

55th Meeting of the GEF Council

The GEF Council adopted the first Work Program since the approval of the seventh replenishment of the GEF Trust Fund (GEF-7). The Work Program comprised 18 projects in 25 recipient countries, and amounted to USD 157.8 million. In addition, the Council of the LDCF/SCCF adopted a Work Program comprising six project concepts, with resources amounting to USD 45.85 million.
Event 17 December 2018 - 20 December 2018

14th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Intergovernmental Forum on Mining, Minerals, Metals and Sustainable Development (IGF)

Meeting around the theme “Modern Mining Law and Policy: Accountable, Equitable and Innovative Approaches,” approximately 400 participants from more than 80 countries shared experiences in the revision of mining codes and laws, public access to geological information, gender impacts of mining and policy responses to support progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and mine inspection systems. They considered the possibilities for “climate-smart” and “forest-smart” approaches to mining.
Event 15 October 2018 - 18 October 2018

13th Session of the Conference of the Parties to the UNCCD (COP 13)

Both the CST and the CRIC completed their work ahead of schedule, while several decisions at the heart of the negotiations, including adoption of the 2018-2030 Strategic Framework, alignment of the Convention with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and improved reporting and monitoring procedures, were not as contentious as some expected. The heavy lifting done by the Intergovernmental Working Group on the future strategic framework―and the special methodological session of the CRIC in October 2016―appeared to have paid dividends in Ordos.
Conference of the Parties (COP) 6 September 2017 - 16 September 2017

15th Session of the Committee for the Review of the Implementation of the Convention (CRIC 15) to the UNCCD

In many ways, the decision to convene CRIC 15 as a special intersessional meeting focusing on methodological issues was taken as a stop-gap measure—a compromise reached to buy more time because delegates at CRIC 14 were unable to reach agreement on the way forward in the transition from the current UNCCD implementation framework to a future strategy.
Event 18 October 2016 - 20 October 2016